Say over again, and yet once over again, That thou dost love me. Though the word repeated Should seem “a cuckoo-song,” as thou dost treat it, Remember, never to the hill or plain, Valley and wood, without her cuckoo-strain Comes the fresh Spring in all her green completed. Belovèd, I, amid the darkness greeted By a doubtful spirit-voice, in that doubt’s pain Cry, “Speak once more—thou lovest!” Who can fear Too many stars, though each in heaven shall roll, Too many flowers, though each shall crown the year? Say thou [dost]1 love me, love me, love me — toll The silver iterance! — only minding, Dear, To love me also in silence with thy soul.
Three songs: words from "Sonnets from the Portuguese"
Song Cycle by William Henry Bell (1873 - 1946)
?. Say over again  [sung text not yet checked]
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 21, first published 1847
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- ENG English (Christian Hawkey) , no title, written 2012, appears in Sonne from ort, no. 21
Confirmed with English Poetry II: From Collins to Fitzgerald, Vol. XLI. The Harvard Classics. New York: P.F. Collier & Son, 1909–14; Bartleby.com, 2001. www.bartleby.com/41/598.htm
1 Steele: "does" (typo?)Researcher for this page: Lynn Steele
?. I lift my heavy heart  [sung text not yet checked]
I lift my heavy heart up solemnly, As once Electra her sepulchral urn, And, looking in thine eyes, I over-turn The ashes at thy feet. Behold and see What a great heap of grief lay hid in me, And how the red wild sparkles dimly burn Through the ashen greyness. If thy foot in scorn Could tread them out to darkness utterly, It might be well perhaps. But if instead Thou wait beside me for the wind to blow The grey dust up,... those laurels on thine head, O my Beloved, will not shield thee so, That none of all the fires shall scorch and shred The hair beneath. Stand further off then! go!
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 5, first published 1850
See other settings of this text.
Available translations, adaptations or excerpts, and transliterations (if applicable):
- GER German (Deutsch) (Rainer Maria Rilke) , no title, appears in Sonette aus dem Portugiesischen, no. 5, first published 1908
?. If thou must love me  [sung text not yet checked]
If thou must love me, let it be for nought Except for love's sake only. Do not say "I love her for her smile ... her look ... her way Of speaking gently, ... for a trick of thought That falls in well with mine, and certes brought A sense of pleasant ease on such a day" For these things in themselves, Beloved, may Be changed, or change for thee,-- and love, so wrought, May be unwrought so. Neither love me for Thine own dear pity's wiping my cheeks dry, A creature might forget to weep, who bore Thy comfort long, and lose thy love thereby! But love me for love's sake, that evermore Thou may'st love on, through love's eternity.
Text Authorship:
- by Elizabeth Barrett Browning (1806 - 1861), no title, appears in Poems, in Sonnets from the Portuguese, no. 14, first published 1850
See other settings of this text.
Researcher for this text: Emily Ezust [Administrator]